The 28-year-old Coldwell Banker agent and his fiancée, 30-year-old Kelly Parks, made it to the final episode of the CBS reality show, which sends contestants dashing across the globe.

The prize was $1 million. Corso and Parks missed first place by about 15 minutes, when winners Reichen and Chip, a gay couple identified as married, crossed the finish line near Phoenix.

Contestants had to decipher clues, complete physical tasks and book flights as quickly as possible in a race that drew praise from television critics used to rolling their eyes at reality fare.

The last episode, which aired Thursday night, was a nail-biter as Corso and Parks missed their flight from Japan to Hawaii, but managed to get booked on Reichen and Chip's plane to Arizona. (This is very exciting when you're watching it on television.)

The loss comes despite Corso baring all for a nude swim off a Hawaii beach to recover a sunken rock embedded with instructions for their next destination. (Again, exciting on TV.)

Corso blamed their loss on Reichen and Chip getting the first cab at the Phoenix airport, thanks to the guys getting booked on the front row of the plane, four or five rows ahead of Corso and Parks.

Second place does bring a $25,000 prize, though, and plenty of fame. The night the final episode aired, Corso and Parks went to an Amazing Race convention (Turf can't explain that one) with about 400 fans.

''They were crazy, crazy fanatics. We must have taken 100 personal photos,'' he said in a telephone interview Friday in the midst of a New York media tour. ''I can't imagine a real celebrity. It must be awful.''

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$25,000 second prize? Interesting, if true. :mmm

100 personal photos? Get that website up already! :chat

Crazy fanatics? Wonder how the TWoP fans will react to being called that? :pissedoff :rofl

08-25-2003, 09:21 PM

John

I believe the $25k is speculation, since it's a violation of the contract to tell what the second-place prize is. It's rumored to be around $75k, though. This makes more sense in light of Survivor, where the second place prize is a well-known $100k.

Rather nice, and somewhat hilarious, particularly their stories about a psycho moment with Tian in Austria, and when Jon cracked that he & Kelly, Reichen & Chip, David & Jeff had a huge orgy at the final pitstop. :winkgrin

But this is my favorite part:

Quote:

Elites – Kelly, how are things between you and Moley, uh, I mean Millie?

Kelly – We gave our formal apologies yesterday. We waited to do it in person. And they accepted it, they were great, they accepted it and took it for what it was. Everybody realized it’s how we are—we don’t mean what we say or mean to hurt feelings and that’s what we do, we crack on people. So, we’re all good.

Before the race even started, there was sequestering in the hotel for a week before we actually left. That was the first time we saw the final 12 teams. I actually had it picked--Reichen and Chip, David and Jeff, and ourselves were going to make it to the final three. ... You could just sense it.

And this was a pretty funny comment from Jon:

Quote:

It was one of those spur of the moment kind of things, and I was down to my last pair of clean underwear. I thought, I could get them wet, but then, what the hell, they’re not gonna show my small penis anyway. It was actually a blessing that they blurred it out, because it would have been much more embarrassing if they’d shown it.

:rofl :rofl :rofl

08-26-2003, 05:48 AM

Luna

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluff

I can't even imagine the disappointment they felt at coming in second.

All that effort to be beaten so narrowly.

I know, I felt bad when I saw her cry at coming in second... even though I am usually indifferent or amused at her...

08-26-2003, 08:05 AM

lalol

The CBS site shows the interviews of After the Race and here is one of the question:
Now that the race is over, what are your plans in the future?
Jon: To become Chip and Reichen's financial advisor... :rofl:rofl:rofl :triplets

08-26-2003, 10:08 AM

audiomaster

:laugh Watch out, R/C!

08-26-2003, 10:28 AM

Rick Texas

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was one of those spur of the moment kind of things, and I was down to my last pair of clean underwear. I thought, I could get them wet, but then, what the hell, they’re not gonna show my small penis anyway. It was actually a blessing that they blurred it out, because it would have been much more embarrassing if they’d shown it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there goes all my fantasies about Jon!

10-16-2003, 12:03 AM

imbiyerna

Wow--I just saw Kelly appear as a flight attendant in ABC's "Karen Sisco". She had several lines, and looks lovely indeed. :)

You folks over at the West Coast could still catch it--the show is on at 10pm, I think.

10-16-2003, 05:09 PM

hepcat

Wait - you mean the flight attendant who asked if the guy was "buckled up under there" - that was Kelly? I didn't recognize her!